Pages

24 December 2014

A bit of a late post today. I went with a pretty easy design for this week. I couldn't go through Christmas without doing a Santa design.

For the Santa coats I started with Barry m Red Glitter. I freehanded the white stripe down the middle and on the tips. I freehanded the black stripe using the brush on Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Vinyl. The silver is Kiss nail art Striper in Silver.

For Santa himself I started with a coat of Illamasqua Monogamous. The red is Sally Hansen Patent gloss in Lavish. I used Barry m Red glitter again for the nose and Vinyl for the mouth and eyes, It was a pretty easy design to do. Unfortunately when I added on a coat of Sally Hansen Miracle gel topcoat the red from the Barry m polish mixed with the white. You couldn't tell from afar though so it was grand really.

23 December 2014

Today is a special Twinsie Tuesday post. Instead of the one manicure we have 2 to mark both Christmas and Hanukkah. To start off I have my Christmas nails. I have on a base of GOSH Silver, I marked off both my index and ring finger for the Christmas tree design and painted them with China Glaze Holly Day, Once that had completely dried I added another coat of Silver to the sides that were showing and a full coat to my pinky finger. Whilst that was still tacky I stuck it into the silver glitter pot from the Miss Elegent Touch Candy dip nail kit in Ice Gems. I then decorated the trees using OPI I just can't copeacabana, Barry m Red glitter and a plain white polish.

On my pinky finger, using a dotting tool, I traced out the shape of a snowflake with white polish and stuck my nail into the white glitter pot from the Candy dip nails kit.

Finally my Snowman. I did the outline with the brush from the white nail polish I used. The black hat,his eyes and mouth is Sally Hansen Patent gloss in Vinyl.The red glitter on the hat is Barry m Red glitter. The scarf is Sally Hansen Patent gloss in lavish. Finally his nose is Nails Inc Atomic!

My Hanukkah nails were a bit simpler I think. I started with an all white polish base with a black accent using Sally Hansen Vinyl again. The gold is Catrice Goldfinger. The outline on the star is Kiss nail art striper in Silver. The dreidel is Misa Bourbon on the Rocks. All the dots on the star and other nails are done with a tiny dotting tool.

19 December 2014

I have had Essence Circus Confetti for a couple of years now but I never found a base polish that I loved to pair it with. The glitters never showed up or they ended up being drowned out if the base was too 'fancy'. So in the end I had to just strip it all back and stick with a white base. In all fairness it does look pretty perfect over a white polish. All the different coloured glitters stand out and you can easily see the shifts in colour, even in crappy light.

Here I have on one coat of the Sally Hansen Miracle thickener basecoat. On top of that I have 3 coats of NYC Pinstripe white. For all the hype surrounding this polish I found it to be really disappointing. It's sheer and watery. Application isn't great as it drags a lot so you get a tonne of bald spots. Not a happy chappy. Once that was finally dry I added on a coat of Essence Circus Confetti. This is a fairly jam-packed glitter so I did wipe the brush on the side of the bottle first. I topped it off with a coat of the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel topcoat. I loved this. I think this might be my Christmas mani but we'll see.

17 December 2014

A post I completely forgot to get up last week! This is the dotticure I made up using the Sally Hansen Patent gloss polishes. How good do they look together?! I really like Chic (the peachy nude), especially on my longer nails.

I started off with 2 coats of Chic. Once that had dried I added on a line of Slick (deep navy) 2 lines of Moto (raspberry) and 2 lines of Vinyl (black). It's such a simple manicure to do but the mix of colours really makes it pop. I've been using these polishes in a fair few of my manicures lately. They are just so easy to use and the glossy finish they have is so nice. It'd be great if they brought out a whole load of colours in this line.

16 December 2014

One of the polish combinations I always have in mind but never get to actually wear is a raspberry creme with a glitter topper. I think it's super festive but I really don't wear raspberry polishes all that often (even though I love them!). Finally I got one to work out for me and I ended up really loving it. I wore this combination for a week and it looked great the entire time.

I have on 2 coats of Barry M Raspberry over a basecoat of Sally Hansen Miracle cure strengthener. I added on a thin coat of Catrice Have an Ice day on top and finished it off with a coat of Sally Hansen Miracle gel topcoat. I love the holo glitters in Have an ice day. They are beautiful and quite strong, even with a topcoat on top. The Raspberry polish is a tad darker in person. It looked lovely I have to say. It's one I would definitely wear again during the Christmas break.

15 December 2014

One of the best polishes for the Christmas season is China Glaze Glittering Garland. It is the perfect deep green with golden shimmer. The formula is great. I have on 2 coats with a coat of Sally Hansen Miracle gel topcoat to seal it all in. This can drag a bit which is the only problem I have come across whilst using it.

Glittering Garland makes a great base for nail art too. I used this a lot last Christmas and even during the year for regular nail designs. It's a polish that shows up on my blog a lot because of its versatility.

10 December 2014

Today I have the new Sally Hansen Velvet Texture polishes to show ye. This is a small release with only 3 polishes in total but it's an interesting one. The end result (as you can guess from the name) is a velvet look (matte with a bit of a sheen) and a slight textured feel. They look more textured than they feel. You don't have to worry about your nails snagging on your clothes or anything like that.

The first one I have is Velour. This is a lilac shade with a good formula. 2 coats and it is fully opaque. I found this to be a tad bit thicker than the other polishes. It's not something that will really affect your application in any way but I just happened to pick up on it. I like this colour. It looks really nice with the velvet texture finish.

Next up is 620 Velveteen:

Velveteen is a plain black polish. The formula was very nice on this one. Again I have on 2 coats and it's fully opaque, I think the texture look really suits this polish. I haven't come across a black texture so it's a nice change from the regular polishes.

Finally I have 670 Lavish:

Lavish is a raspberry shade. It's a shade or 2 darker than what you seen in the pictures, Like most raspberry polishes my camera had a hard time picking up the exact colour. Formula wise I only needed 2 coats for full opacity. The texture look isn't as strong on this one from my experience. It is still noticeable though so no worries about that,

Overall this is a nice little collection. I happen to like the textured effect range and I think this is a nice subtle alternative to the really obvious glitter textures. Removal is pretty easy, it's basically a normal polish in that sense. I would like to see some plain matte/velour polishes from Sally Hansen. That would be such an interesting addition to their range.

Each bottle costs €6.95 at the moment and you can find them in the usual pharmacies that stock Sally Hansen polishes.

09 December 2014

I have both of the Miss Elegant Touch Candy dip nail kits to show ye today. To start off I have the Holly Berries kit. This kit consists of 3 pots of glitter in red, gold and green. Pretty much Christmas in a box. You also get 2 sheets of 18 double sided stickers to use as a base for the glitter. I have tried these and while they work perfectly I use a similar polish colour as a basecoat instead. This gives a far richer finish and it makes the glitter stand out so much more.

I have on one coat of the Sally Hansen Patent polish in Moto. While that was still dry I stuck it into the pot of glitter (they aren't completely full to the brim so you won't spill any and it's far quicker than pouring some out). Doing this just once covers the entire nail so it's a pretty quick process.

Dry time is pretty normal so doing your entire manicure only takes a couple of minutes really.

I left on the red glitter and added on an accent nail. I added on Catrice Goldfinger to half on my nail and stuck it in the gold glitter pot. After leaving that for roughly a minute I painted the other half with China Glaze Holly Day. I stuck that into the green glitter pot and that's it! The glitters are far nicer in person. They look just like ornaments. My hands are so sparkly and they just look amazing.

I added on a topcoat to see how it would affect the glitter. I have to say they look pretty amazing with a topcoat. Not only does it make the glitters look so rich and deep but it also keeps the glitter on the nail so you don't end up with glitter everywhere.

I did a quick swatch on the other kit. This is the Ice Gem kit. Again you get 3 glitters and 2 sheets of double sided stickers. For the glitters you get: silver, white and blue. I think the only disappointing glitter is the white one. It's not as pure white as I expected it to be. Thankfully if you layer it over a white polish it looks just like snow. Over other polishes it looks pretty sheer, almost like a flakie or a faint shimmer. All of the other glitters are amazing though. Each pack costs €5.99 so they are very affordable. The process is quick and easy but the end result is a super striking manicure. I would highly suggest using a fan brush to wipe off the excess glitters from the nail back into the pot once you are finished the dipping process. You'd be surprised how much comes off and it helps reduce the amount of mess/clean up needed once it's all done and dusted.

08 December 2014

Some more Christmas themed nails for today. I just noticed that my post didn't go up last Thursday so there might be an extra post this week. For today though I went with a more abstract look. I started with 3 coats of Catrice Oh My Goldness!. This is a darkened gold glitter in a clear base. It is jam packed so it's not too hard to get it opaque.

Once Oh My Goldness had dried I added on China Glaze Holly Day (dark green), Lancome Nuit D'Azure (Navy blue) GOSH Silver and Nails Inc St James. I like the colours together, I think they stand out pretty well over the gold base. It's eye-catching but not too blingy. Sometimes I think you need to reign it in a bit (depending on the occasion of course).

03 December 2014

Today I have 4 of the Sally Hansen Patent Gloss nail polishes to show you. These are new to Ireland and come in a 11.8ml square shaped bottle. Each bottle costs €6.95 (regular price €8.95) and you can find them in the usual pharmacies and shops that stock the Sally Hansen range.

02 December 2014

House of Holland and elegant touch have come together to release 3 sets of stick on nails for the Christmas season, The 3 designs available are Santa Baby, Unwrap me (pictured) and 'Tis the season. All 3 designs retail for €9.99. In each kit you get 24 nails in 10 sizes, nail glue and a mini nail file. Basically all you need to apply these nails are in the kit! Very handy, especially if you want to apply them quickly before going out.

The Unwrap nail set was inspired by wrapping paper and come in 3 different colours (red, green and gold). They are simple but really eye-catching. I love the design and it's one I have free handed before but I think it's pretty time consuming so these will come in handy this Christmas. The only real issue I had with these nails is the length. They are a fair bit longer than I can really work with. The good news is you can cut them down so don't let the length put you off. I cut mine with a nail clippers and I just file them a bit to rid of any sharp edges (you'll probably see the end result in a future mani)

All 3 sets are available in stores now. I think they would make lovely secret santa presents or stocking fillers.

01 December 2014

To mark the first day of December (probably my favourite month of the year) I came up with a little calendar nail art design. This was pretty simple although my nails could have been a tad longer in order to get the numbers a bit bigger but hey! it turned out ok so it's grand.

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze Glittering Garland.Once that had fully dried I striped off the nail and painted on one coat of white polish. I used a fine tip pen for the numbers which was both a good and a bad thing. The good was the ease of use! It took way less time to do each hand. The bad is that is wiped off pretty easy with a topcoat so the colour doesn't look as intense as it did in the beginning.

I marked the 24th with my kiss silver nail art striper and that was it!

28 November 2014

A manicure without any striping tape for once! Even I needed a break from it at this point. Instead I went with my old favourite combination; polka dots and an accent nail. I picked out on of the Sally Hansen Miracle Gels in Pretty Piggy. I couldn't resist doing some nail art given the name of this polish! I have on 2 coats of Pretty Piggy. The formula is pretty good. They are quite glossy on their own two which is great (although I've come to expect that kind of finish from Sally Hansen polishes. They are amazing)

On my other nails I have the Sally Hansen Miracle gel in Redgy. Just like Pretty Piggy I needed 2 coats for Redgy. I love these two colours together, I freehanded the pig face with a small paintbrush and Redgy, using a plain black polish and a white polish for the eyes and nostrils. I topped it off with a coat of the Miracle Gel topcoat which did make the design run a bit which was annoying. In person you don't notice it really but it still bugs me!

27 November 2014

Another striped manicure! I really went through a phase of using striping tape, even though it can be really frustrating to work with. I decided to mix a few different styles with this manicure. There was no real reason for this, I just thought they'd be interesting on the nail. I think it looks pretty good though. The only annoying thing is the thickness thanks to all the glitter. It's not bad by any means but it is noticeable which kind of ruins it for me, especially on short nails.

I started with 2 coats of Essence Happy Ending, a hot pink creme with a pretty good formula. After striping off the nail I added on Essence Time for Romance. This was pretty thick as it is an older polish. It's still beautiful though. On the other nails I didn't bother with the striping. Instead I dotted on Happy ending in a typical polka dot pattern. On the ring finger I used Essence Hello Holo for a bit of sparkle.It is a pretty busy manicure!

26 November 2014

This is another version of the striped manicure I showed ye last week or the week before. This time I decided to play around with some textured polishes to see how they would work with this type of design.

I started with a base of Catrice Raspberry fields forever. This looks red in the pictures but it really is a true raspberry creme. It's one of my favourite raspberry nail polishes. The formula is great! Two coats and you are good to go. Once that was dry I added on the striping tape.

On top of Raspberry Fields Forever I added Barry m Kingsland Road (Pink) and Station Road (yellow). The blue is Nails inc Motcomb street. The manicure came out fairly smooth despite having a mix of textured polishes in the mix. The only problem I had was in getting the lines to look crisp. The textured effect really does not work well with striping tape if you are looking for a perfectly straight line.

25 November 2014

Today we have another "mani orders" theme for the Twinsie Tuesday group. My order came from a few people to make it a bit more interesting. In the end I was given OPI Every month is Oktoberfest, a white polish and Barry m Amethyst.

I started with a base of OPI Every month is Oktoberfest. This is 2 coats. The formula is pretty good! Sometimes I do need to add on another coat but it's a beautiful polish and it dries quickly so the extra coat isn't really all that big of a deal.

I striped off the ring finger and added on a plain white polish on the tip and 2 coats of Barry m Amethyst to the base. I think all three polishes work pretty well together. The fact that the Barry m polish is a clear base glitter really helps. It makes it so much easier to use alongside other polishes.

21 November 2014

I love Hay Day, it's such a fun little game. I started this manicure with 1 coat of Barry m Cyan Blue. I sponged on Barry m Blueberry Ice cream. Once that was dry I finished it off with another layer of white polish at the tips. I hate doing gradients at the best of times but it is a nightmare with blue polish! Thankfully clean up wasn't too horrific this time around.

For the chicken I kept the base plain with a coat of white polish. I freehanded the chicken using a small paintbrush. The red is Max Factor Red Passion and the orange is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Tahitian Sunset. I love the expression on the chickens face!

20 November 2014

A quick swatch for today. This is one of the older polishes I have. Sleepy is from the Essence Snow White Collection that was released the year before last. It's a light blue creme with a hint of shimmer but it doesn't really translate onto the nails. Nevertheless it's a nice, pretty polish. I have on 3 coats as it was a tad bit streaky.

Again I used the Essence Soft touch topcoat to seal it all in. I really like the end result. There's just somthing about matte toppers that make you nails look so eye-catching.

18 November 2014

I am so pleased with this weeks Twinsie Tuesday challenge. When I first read the prompt I was like "ugh this is not going to be fun" but thankfully I kept with it. I don't have a typical favourite football team BUT at the last minute I thought of Terry Pratchett's book "Unseen Academicals" which is based on the Unseen University's football team.

I started with a base of Illamasqua Monogamous, 2 coats, on all of my nails except the middle finger. Then I striped off the nail and pained on Orly Liquid Vinyl. Again I striped off the nail and added on Max Factor Red Passion. On the middle nail I used a plain white polish. I striped it off to match the referee's shirt and painted on Orly Liquid Vinyl. I topped it off with Essence Soft Touch matte topcoat.

I really enjoyed doing this manicure I have to say. I love the Dicworld series so any chance I get to do a Discworld themed manicure makes me pretty happy.